Souza (footballer, born 1988)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Barbosa and the second or paternal family name is de Souza.

Souza

Souza in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Elierce Barbosa de Souza
Date of birth	(1988-03-08) March 8, 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Posse, Brazil
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder / Right back
Team information
Current team	América de Natal
Youth career
	Atlético Goianiense
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007	Ceilândia	3	(3)
2007	Brasília	3	(3)
2008	Dom Pedro	49	(3)
2008–2009	Palmeiras B	0	(0)
2009–2013	Palmeiras	31	(0)
2010	→ Ponte Preta (loan)	28	(4)
2011	→ São Caetano (loan)	33	(5)
2012	→ Náutico (loan)	35	(7)
2013	→ Cruzeiro (loan)	13	(2)
2014–2016	Cruzeiro	5	(1)
2014	→ Santos (loan)	18	(0)
2015	→ Bahia (loan)	8	(0)
2016	→ Cerezo Osaka (loan)	41	(8)
2017–2019	Cerezo Osaka	74	(11)
2020–2022	Al-Ettifaq	63	(6)
2022	Khor Fakkan	12	(2)
2022–2023	Náutico	46	(10)
2023	→ Ponte Preta (loan)	3	(0)
2024–	América de Natal	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 September 2023

Elierce Barbosa de Souza or simply Souza (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈso(w)zɐ]; born 8 March 1988) is a Brazilian footballer who plays for América de Natal, as a defensive midfielder.

Career

Souza began his career playing for various teams in the Federal District, as Ceilândia, Brasília and Dom Pedro.

He made his first team debut for the former on 25 August 2007 in a 0–1 home loss against Capital and scored his first goal in a 2–0 home win against Renovo.[1]

He faced several difficulties, such as living with hunger, sometimes going to training without breakfast, not having enough to eat. He thought of giving up the dream of being a player and for a time did: he gave up football and returned to Posse, his hometown, to work as a bricklayer. In 2008, he revived the dream of being a football player and went to Dom Pedro II in Brasília. He stood out, and was pointed out by many as the best midfielder of the Brasiliense Championship. He was hired by Palmeiras and spent time in Palmeiras B, then, having stood out again, was promoted by Vanderlei Luxemburgo Palmeiras to the first team.

Career Statistics

Club

As of 26 March 2023.[2][3][4]

Club	Season	League			State League		National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Dom Pedro	2008	Série C	0	0	12	1	—		—		—		—		12	1
Palmeiras	2009	Série A	29	0	3	0	—		—		5	0	—		37	0
	2010		2	0	4	0	3	0	—		—		—		9	0
	2013	Série B	0	0	10	1	—		—		7	1	—		17	2
	Total		31	0	17	1	3	0	0	0	12	1	0	0	63	2
Ponte Preta (loan)	2010	Série B	28	4	—		—		—		—		—		28	4
São Caetano (loan)	2011	Série B	33	5	16	0	—		—		—		—		49	5
Náutico (loan)	2012	Série A	35	7	18	7	—		—		—		—		53	14
Cruzeiro(loan)	2013		13	2	0	0	2	0	—		—		—		15	2
Cruzeiro	2014		5	1	8	1	—		—		3	0	—		16	2
Santos (loan)	2014		18	0	—		1	0	—		—		—		19	0
Bahia (loan)	2015	Série B	27	3	9	3	4	1	—		2[a]	0	8[b]	3	50	10
Cerezo Osaka (loan)	2016	J2 League	41	8	—		3	2	—		—		—		44	10
Cerezo Osaka	2017	J1 League	33	4	—		3	1	5	1	—		—		41	6
	2018		22	4	—		2	0	2	1	3[c]	0	1[d]	0	30	5
	2019		19	3	—		2	1	3	2	—		—		24	6
	Total		74	11	0	0	7	2	10	3	3	0	1	0	95	17
Al-Ettifaq	2019–20	Saudi Professional League	16	1	—		0	0	—		—		—		16	1
	2020–21		29	2	—		1	0	—		—		—		30	2
	2021–22		18	3	—		1	0	—		—		—		19	3
	Total		63	6	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	65	6
Khor Fakkan	2021–22	UAE Pro League	12	2	—		—		—		—		—		12	2
Náutico	2022	Série B	17	1	—		—		—		—		—		17	1
	2023	Série C	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		8[b]	2	8	2
	Total		17	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	2	25	3
Career Total			397	50	80	13	22	5	10	4	20	1	17	5	546	78

1. All appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
2. Appearance(s) in Copa do Nordeste
3. All appearance(s) in AFC Champions League
4. All appearance(s) in Suruga Bank Championship

Honours

Cruzeiro

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2013

Cerezo Osaka

• J.League Cup: 2017
• Emperor's Cup: 2017

América de Natal

• Campeonato Potiguar: 2024

References

1. Passaram por aqui: Souza (Ferrugem)
2. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 25 out of 289)
3. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 144 out of 289)
4. Souza at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 November 2016.

External links

• Souza at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
• Profile at Cerezo Osaka
• Souza at ESPN FC